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Raajiv Tripathi
DOHA
Qatar steamrolled past Australia in the quarter-finals of the ANOC World Beach Games 2019 on Monday and would now hope to be third time lucky against Brazil and crack the final of any global event.
Cheered by the Qatar Olympic Committee President His Excellency Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad al Thani at the Al Gharafa Club, the home team posted a commanding 24-17, 21-14 triumph.
The sixth win in a row set up Al Annabi’s blockbuster semi-final against five-time world champions from the South America at 8.10 pm on Tuesday.
Only once in the match, Australia were able to take the lead – 1-0 in the opening set. And as five-time Asia champions Qatar hit the front, there was no stopping and they jumped from 6-1 to 10-5 before going up 1-0.
In the second set, Qatar forged 2-0 ahead and then stretched the advantage to 10-2. The Australians failed to match the might. In the backdrop of chanting, singing, flag-waving and drum-beating the local fans, Qatar duly clinched the victory.
Sheikh Joaan then came down the stairs to greet the entire team in the mixed zone and wished good luck for the big match on the morrow.
Qatar’s coach Khaled Hassan expressed both delight and confidence after the match. He commented: “Twice we have played Brazil in the semi-finals and we lost through the tie-breaker on both occasions. The match no doubt will be very hard and we’re prepared much better now.
“Earlier, we were a bit nervous. But now, the players are settled and getting better with each game. My gut feeling says that we have lost to Brazil twice but we could pull off a major surprise in the semi-finals.
“Brazil are not unbeatable. They have already lost to Denmark in the group stage. If Brazil had finished on the top, we might have not met them. But I feel that we’ve the capability to strike and get past them this time around,” he added.
For Qatar, defender Mutasem Mohamed and right wing Hani Kakhi were outstanding. The former slammed nine goals in nine attempts and Kakhi was also hundred percent on the target in his five shots. Veteran defender Mahmoud Hassanballa struck four out of five, while specialist Mohamed Hassan netted three goals in five shies.
Nicholas James Gallaugher, the left wing, led the Australian attack and had six goals in 12 shots. He as followed by Christopher Timothy Mottin and specialist Lucas Turecek, who had four goals each.
Brazil needed 2-1 (30-20, 16-17, 6-4) victory against Croatia, who have won two world titles in four finals, Sweden upset world bronze medallists Hungary 17-19, 22-20, 7-4, while European champions Denmark handed a 20-17, 30-24 defeat to Spain. The men’s other semi-final between Denmark and Sweden is scheduled at 6.30 pm.
The women’s semi-final battle lines have been drawn up with Brazil taking on Denmark at 5.40 pm and Vietnam did Asia proud by taking a spot against Hungary.
Brazil defeated Poland 14-12, 20-8, Vietnam got the better of Argentina 31-22, 16-20, 9-8, Denmark defeated Spain 23-19, 22-20 and Hungary overcame Greece challenge by 15-14, 16-14.
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15/10/2019
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